After 27 Years in Prison, Trevor Jones Competes in Quarterfinals
Trevor Jones has done the CrossFit Open workouts for the last eight years, but he only registered for the first time this season.
That’s because Jones did his seven other Opens in the midst of a 27-year prison sentence in Colorado after being convicted of murder when he was 17 years old.
- “I was involved in a homicide over a gun deal that had gone wrong, and a kid who was 16 lost his life,” Jones tells the Morning Chalk Up, describing what happened back in 1996. Jones says he was trying to scam a kid — who was selling him and his friends a gun — out of $100.
According to Jones, pulling the trigger was an accident, a fatal accident, but one that has made it difficult for Jones, now 45, to ever be able to forgive himself.
- “Have I forgiven myself? That’s about one of the most complicated questions of my life, and I’ll be honest, probably not…For me to forgive myself, I’m just not sure actually it ultimately makes sense,” says Jones, who was released from prison in June 2023.
Jones hasn’t been able to forgive himself, but now that he’s a free man again, he’s doing his best to live a life that gives back to others. He’s been giving back largely through CrossFit and the owner of Mach983 CrossFit in Aurora, CO, Fred Dayton.
Finding CrossFit
When Jones was incarcerated at Limen Correctional Facility in Lincoln Country, CO, he became involved with Redemption Road Fitness Foundation. This nonprofit started at Limon in 2017 and provides exercise-based rehabilitation and Level 1 and 2 certifications to people who are or have been incarcerated.
Thanks to Redemption Road, which brought both equipment and volunteer coaches into the prison, Jones was introduced to CrossFit when he was incarcerated. This allowed him to focus his attention on something positive and healthy during this “very dark world,” he says.
- “Sometimes CrossFit was the only thing that made any sense to me,” Jones says.
If anyone were ever having a particularly hard day, Jones and his friends would hit “death by burpees” together, providing the physical release “or distraction to get past that moment,” he explains. “After a couple rounds of death by burpees, and you don’t care what’s going on in your life.”
- “CrossFit gave me something stable almost every day to be involved in…that carried me through…I’m here today because of what CrossFit did for me [in prison],” he adds.
Redemption Road also allowed Jones to complete his Level 1 and Level 2 certifications in 2018 and 2019. When he was released last June, Dayton hired him as a coach at Mach983 CrossFit in Aurora, CO.
A New Beginning
Jones admits that, after spending 27 years behind bars, transitioning into his new life these last few months hasn’t always been easy. Socially, technologically, and financially, “I’m still trying to figure a lot out,” Jones admits.
- “I kind of feel like the last eight or nine months have been a constant cram session,” he says. “I’m having to learn everything all day long. It has been pretty intense. The pace of life has been one of the elements that has been tricky to adjust to.”
But if it weren’t for the support he has received, especially from Dayton and other people from CrossFit, the transition would have been a lot more challenging.
- Having CrossFit in his life has also helped him figure out his purpose: “To invest in the lives of others,” he says.
He’s doing that by volunteering with Redemption Road, working as a peer support specialist, and coaching youth at Mach983 CrossFit who come in through Forging Youth Resilience (FYR), an organization that brings fitness and mentorship to underserved and underprivileged youth. Jones explains that a lot of the kids in the program come from very hard situations.
“[As] crazy as it can sound, just working out with other people with constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movements can offer them something way more than just a good workout,” he says.
- Jones adds: “I love the chance to model a better way to have fun and be involved in good things in the world, which I felt I lost when I was a very troubled kid.”
For Jones, too, working out gives him way more than just a good workout.
- “The way CrossFit reaches out into communities of need…what people do for each in the gym every day, and outside the gym. I know the power CrossFit has to change people’s lives through and through,” Jones says. “We have so much to offer, and I think that’s where the real magic, and the real value of what we do, ultimately lies.”
But, of course, it’s also fun to see your fitness improve over time, and in Jones’ case, it was also exciting to compete in the Open for the first time officially and qualify for Quarterfinals in the Men’s 45-49-year-old division. He finished tied for 1,222 out of approximately 2,400 in his division. His best workout was Workout 4, where he placed 638 with a score of 27 (tiebreak: 4:03).
Although doing well in Quarterfinals was a goal, it’s not really what it’s all about. He’s doing it because he can — after 27 years, he finally can.
More CrossFit Stories
Check out the latest from Morning Chalk Up below:
- Breaking: Quarterfinals Workout 1 Penalties Put Some CrossFit Games Vets’ Seasons in Jeopardy
- Interview: Is It Finally Anikha Greer’s Time?
- A Look Back: The Epic, the Surprising, and the WTF Events From CrossFit Games Past
Featured image: Fred Dayton